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I apologize for falling silent for the past few months. Life caught up with me. Anyway, don’t think I’ve stopped hating on private prisons – far from it. I just haven’t really had the time to write.

But I can’t let a day like today go by without some mention. Today, CCA turns 30. That means for three decades we as a nation (beginning with Tennessee (thanks a lot, Tennessee)) have been bullishly pursuing a failed experiment in which we turn over society’s most vulnerable members to private companies, who systematically fail to live up to their contractual standards, let alone any notion of human decency, in how they operate their facilities. In the process, millions of lives have been impacted, with all but a very few exceptions (the corporate brass) being worse for the wear.

Just a quick follow up on some of the news coming out of New Zealand regarding its Mt. Eden prison, which is run by Serco, probably the largest non-US based private prison operator in the world. The prison and the company have come under tremendous scrutiny in recent months for its poor operation of the facility. It was recently discovered that the company failed to meet at least 40% of the targets in its contract with the government. As more information came out, it was determined that the company failed to meet at least half of its performance goals; and that among its management issues in the past year were wrongful releases and detentions, and an escape. Less than 1/3 of the prisoners had a classification plan within the target time frame; the contract targeted a rate of 90%.

So it’s not just in the US that private companies epically fail to meet their contractual obligations to run prisons. I suppose that should make me feel better, but it doesn’t.

The industry has fared rather well in the state despite the failure to pass the wholesale privatization, but not quite as well as it has with the federal government in taking responsibility for incarcerating immigration detainees.

Over the next few years, the state gradually reduced security at the facility, moving away from constant patrols to more mechanical security instruments. Now, it wants to not only privatize security staff at the facility, but medical and mental health treatment as well. Local leaders are upset at these recent developments, particularly because they have seen how privatization has failed to save money in many other states. Many of the COs currently employed at the facility would likely either lose their jobs or face significant reductions in pay and benefits, the area in which private prison companies are able to reduce expenses most easily (by just cutting them).

So add me to the list of people who hope the state decides to keep to its word and ensure the facility remains secure (i.e. not privatized).

Last week, a CCA prison in Woodville, MS became the site of the latest private prison riot. At least 23 prisoners were injured in the disturbance to the point where they required medical attention. Fights raged for nearly an hour before the prison staff got the facility back under control.

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